A Mile in my Shoes
by Laura and Amber
Summary: It's never easy to understand exactly what someone else is going through but when Perry and Doofenshmirtz swap lives for a day, their worlds are turn upside down.
1. Chapter 1

It was a typical day in Danville. Phineas and Ferb were in their backyard, when Isabella came in, out of breath.

"Sorry I'm late guys!", she said as she came through the gate. "My parents needed some help rearranging my room."

"That's perfectly fine, Isabella.", Ferb said with a familiar smile and a wave of his hand.

His smile, didn't really seem like Ferb's. If Isabella didn't know any better... But it was crazy to guess. So she shrugged it off and headed over to her secret crush, Phineas.

"So, Phineas. Whatcha dooin?", she asked cutely.

Phineas looked up at her silently. Then a small smirk appeared on his face, as if holding back laughter when he looked over to his brother. They exchanged knowledgeable glances and then looked back at Isabella, Ferb smiling more widely than Phineas.

"Can you guess what we've done?", Ferb asked.

"Uh.. No. That's why I was asking Phine-"

The boys bursted out laughing and so did Buford and Baljeet who were sitting nearby. Then Phineas went behind the tree to get something.

"We've swapped minds!", Ferb explained, revealing himself to be Phineas. "Ferb and I were talking about how earlier this Summer it was weird to see Candace in Perry's body, so we thought it would be cool to swap with each other."

"Yes! Was it not clear with how much Ferb was talking?", Baljeet asked.

Ferb, in Phineas' body, then pushed out the machine that made it possible and stood proudly by it, next to Phineas in his body. Isabella stared at the two boys for a moment. The one she loved had his body in one place but his mind was in a body of whom she didn't love. So, which one did she love? Which is the real Phineas? Suddenly overwhelmed by confusion she took a step back and held onto her spinning head, trying to keep focused. Phineas, with Ferb's voice, laughed some and they decided to swap back. With a quick beam-to-the-face, the boys were normal. Ferb's smile was gone and Phineas' familiar, warm, ultra-happy smile returned to his face.

"Wanna try it out with someone?", he asked cheerfully.

Isabella pondered this for a moment. While she did love Phineas for his brains, there WAS a once-in-a-lifetime possibility here for her to take advantage of.

"Sure. How about WE swap bodies?", she asked, smiling more widely at Phineas.

"US?", Phineas asked, feeling a little unsure. "Don't you wanna swap with...someone of your gender first?"

"No. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine.", she said coming over.

Ferb stepped aside, knowing good and well what Isabella was thinking.

"Okay. Sure!", the young boy smiled again. "This'll DEFINITELY be an interesting experiment."

Once the beam was zapped, the two stared down at their bodies for a moment. Phineas in slight confusion, Isabella in absolute, beaming, delight.

"Wow! This IS weird!", Phineas remarked, having to pause and laugh at the high-pitched girly voice saying his words. "Ha ha ha! Isabella, you're voice is so funny sounding with my speech-pattern!"

"AWESOME!", Isabella said in Phineas' voice only to start giggling uncontrollably. "I-I mean this is weird, cause. Well. It is a BOY'S body, but this is so cool! I think this is the most wonderful invention by far, Phineas!"

Isabella turned and smiled dreamily at the boy's mind who was standing next to her, but doing so, in Phineas' body, made everyone burst out laughing. All except for Phineas who was still looking over the new body and clothes, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Stop it! Stop it! That's worse than before!", Buford wheezed between laughs.

Isabella glared at the group of boys, putting her hands on her hips and pouting her lip.

"What do you mean it's worse than before?", she asked, making the boys only laugh harder seeing and hearing Phineas do it all.

"Hey, you know. I'm not sure if this is a side-effect from the ray or just something to do with being a girl, but all of a sudden, I have to use the bathroom.", Phineas noted, starting to walk to the house. "I'll be back in a minute."

"AH-", Ferb began to say before seeing his brother go behind the glass door.

He buried his face into his hand, feeling embarrassed, knowing there really WAS a great difference between boys and girls. As soon as the door closed though and Isabella's body was out of sight, Phineas' body suddenly hugged himself, falling onto the yard's grass and began to squeal and giggle like a fangirl.

"OH MY GOSH THIS IS AMAZING!", Isabella squealed in delight with Phineas' voice. "I'm in PHINEAS' body! I haven't even seen his room but I'm in his BODY!"

"...Hey. Where's Perry?", Ferb asked, looking beside him.

The platypus was already on his way to Doofenshmirtz's penthouse and the secret agent bursted in, ready to fight. The human looked around his inator, hearing the platypus' entrance of broken glass and seemed confused.

"Perry the Platypus?! You're early! AGAIN!", he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What's up with that? You have more important things to be doing?"

Perry gave a huff. Yeah. He had WAY more important things to be doing than dealing with a moron.

"Well look Perry the Platypus, if you would just WAIT an hour or two, maybe then you wouldn't have to wait quite so long to foil me.", the man began to ramble. "I've barely had time to work on my inator with Roger's constant on and off the phone with me and Vanessa's troubles PLUS Norm."

Perry only leaned against the wall, knowing he was going to be in for a doozy as the man continued.

Meanwhile, mayhem was running amok in the backyard as almost everyone except Ferb was playing around in each other's bodies. Buford and Baljeet had swapped. Phineas is trying to convince Isabella to swap back. And Candace was even confused with a squirrel Ferb quickly caught so it wouldn't do anything harmful with the body. After all, that was his job. Keeping track of everyone in this confusion.

"N-No offense Isabella, but you're skirt's REALLY making my legs feel cold..", Phineas was saying as he tried to push it down again.

"Sorry Phineas but this is just too much fun!", the girl in a boy's body giggled as she hung upside down from the tree branch. "And with your boy body, I don't have to worry about my shirt slipping! HA!"

"Isabella!", Phineas whined.

"Oof!", Buford groaned as he tripped over in Baljeet's body. "Baljeet, what's up with your body and tripping over everything?! I can barely stand up!"

"Oh I am the one with the issues? How can you walk with this much weight?!", Baljeet was saying as the large body wavered back and forth about the yard. "And with such bulky feet!"

He stumbled a bit and leaned against the machine, accidentally causing it to fire off out of the yard. The beam from the machine flew across the city, narrowly missing many possible guinea pigs for its power.

"...And a FINAL thing...!", Heinz was in the middle of saying before there was a flash of green. "Krrrrr!"

* * *

_...=3_


	2. Chapter 2

The moment the man opened his eyes again, the world was suddenly very alienated to him. Everything was black and white and much bigger than he was. And to make matters scarier, he was seeing HIMSELF standing right in front of him. The body, standing straight up instead of in a slouch, in front of the man was also looking around in bewilderment. This world of bright colors, sudden height-advantage and an number of odd pains in the body. Perry looked about in confusion and stared particularly at the platypus in front of him.

"Krrrr...?", the platypus asked uneasily, pointing a shaking finger at him. "'P-Perry...?'"

The agent looked down and let out a scream that was almost heard at Phineas and Ferb's backyard.

"I'm a HUMAN?! EWW! EW! Oh my gosh! EW! I'm YOU!", the human was suddenly exclaiming in disgust as it proceeded to rub everywhere, as if it would help feel any better. "EW! Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew! EWWWW! I'm in HEINZ DOOFENSHMIRTZ'S BODY!"

"'Perry the Platypus! You're- WHOA.. What's wrong with your VOICE?! I know MY voice was high but it almost sounds like a girl's!'", the platypus chattered, holding a webbed-hand to the throat.

"MY VOICE? What about how I'm speaking human?", Perry went on.

"'Well.. I'm no genius..'", Heinz began to chatter.

"No duh Sherlock.", Perry scoffed, placing Heinz's hands on his hips.

"'BUT..'", the platypus continued, trying to hold back a surge of anger. "'I'm guessing we've swapped minds. See, the mind and the brain are somewhat different to one another. While the mind THINKS things and such, the BRAIN is what controls the physical body. So while you're MIND is coming up with what you're wanting to say, my PHYSICAL BRAIN is saying it in the manner it knows how to. By speaking in human. Where as while my MIND is coming up with what I wanna say, your PHYSICAL BRAIN is making that weird, chirping, purring noise to say what I'm thinking.'"

The statement earned a curious look from the human. As Heinz noticed, he shrugged, looking off a bit.

"'I got bored one day and opened up an encyclopedia.'", he said. "'But either way, how do you understand me? I've never been able to understand YOU perfectly.'"

"Because Platypus is my native tongue. If I started saying a bunch of German gibberish, you'd understand, right?", Perry asked with a shrug.

"'True. So then I have another question. Sorry if this is personal or anything Perry but have you been uh...'", the doctor trailed off, not entirely sure what to say.

"What?"

"'...Y-you know... neutered?'", the platypus asked, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"Wha? Uh.. NO.", Perry said, as if it was an absurd thought. "No. I was spayed when I was lit-"

"'WAIT! You WHAT?!'", Heinz interrupted, knowing the difference between the two.

"What? What do you expect? A girl pet platypus. Something had to be done when I was adopted.", Perry continued to shrug as Heinz only pointed at the human with a dropped jaw, barely able to grasp this concept. "What? Did you think I was a BOY this whole time?"

"'...Uh, well. Let's see. A platypus that barges into my home and beats the living daylights out of me with the name PERRY. Gee. How on earth could I possibly think you were a boy?'", Heinz deducted sarcastically.

"Well don't blame ME for the name. My owners gave it to me!", Perry defended.

"'WHY would they give a GIRL platypus a BOY name?'", Heinz asked in utter confusion.

"Because they had no clue I was a girl. They never bothered to check. Same with Monogram and Karl. I mean, sheesh, Doof. That's a little PERSONAL isn't it?", she rolled her eyes at the stupidity of it.

"'Alright. Alright. Alright. Girl platypus, boy name. I get it.'", the platypus rolled her eyes. "'SO messed up! But I get it. Sheesh, when were you the talkative one.'"

"When no one's been able to understand a word you say for the last 5 years, it's a real freedom to be understood.", Perry enlightened. "So what's the plot?"

"'Um.. None. To be honest.'", Heinz chattered. "'What, you think I had something to do with swapping minds?'"

"Well... You're the same person who made a giant robot man.", Perry intoned. "How could this not be your plan?"

"'Cause my plan involved City Hall, not you!'", the platypus continued.

"...Then... What happened?", Perry asked, feeling worried now.

"'Heck if I know. All I know is-'", all of a sudden, Perry noticed the clock on the wall and completely interrupted her body.

"OH MY GOSH! It's that late?!", Perry exclaimed, checking a wrist watch she found on the body.

"Darn it! Monogram's gonna have my tail if I don't get back to him in the next half-hour!"

Heinz, upon hearing this, looks behind him at the awaiting hover car that's auto-parked at the balcony and then back at Perry. Seeing this action, Perry caught onto what the monotreme was planning on doing.

"Heinz. Don't you dare!", the human growled.

"'Well what else do you expect us to do? You SAID Monobrow'll bite your head off. What else can we do other than trade lives?'"

Perry groaned, knowing she was beaten. If she didn't agree, she'd definitely hear it from Monogram and she's already crossed him a lot recently for getting back so late. But if she did...how much evil can one get into when they find out about their enemy's host-family? More likely, how much evil can Dr. Doofenshmirtz get into for finding out such a secret? Perry hadn't really had much of a choice.

"'Okay. Any questions, first off?'", Heinz asked as they sat down to go through a quick run-through.

Perry tried to think but then quickly grabbed the side of the human head in pain.

"'Ah! Headaches. I have a pot of water being boiled now. The recipe for some herbal tea is on the cabinet.'", he explained. "'SIP. IT. CAREFULLY. Otherwise it'll tear up your stomach and you'll be on the couch till dinner.'"

Perry gave a nod, following along and then rubbed the human back sorely.

"'I can't sleep very comfortably anymore. You can really feel the springs in my bed so I wake up pretty sore. It should pass after you get a hot shower.'"

After a moment of thought, Perry finally noticed something.

"Why do I have to gulp for air?", she finally asked. "It feels like I can't get enough of it."

"'Pollen.'", Heinz waved a webbed hand aside with an eye-roll. "'I have allergies to it. It makes me have to gulp for air, headaches, and if I work too hard, I'll get dizzy and see the world in black and blue.'"

"Geez. That sounds bad...", Perry cringed.

"'It gets worse. My thoughts normally get all confused like I was drinking heavy again and it seems like even climbing a flight of stairs is so mentally exhausting.'", Heinz continued to explain. "'So keep it easy.'"

"Right."

"'So what about your family?'", Heinz asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"The Flynn-Fletchers.", Perry began, glaring at the platypus as she read his thoughts. "You'll be living with your high-school girlfriend, Linda."

"'REALLY?!'", Heinz exclaimed in surprise, losing his earlier focus.

"Yes. Linda Flynn, Lawrence Fletcher. Married. Then you have the oldest daughter, Candace Flynn. Then Ferb Fletcher. Then Phineas Flynn. When you get back, it should be about 6. Linda will be calling the boys into the house for dinner. As a pet, you can't be all wide-eyed, staring around like you're confused. You go to the couch in the living room, sit down, and patiently sit still until Phineas or Ferb come to feed you your dinner. After dinner, everyone watches a movie with popcorn and non-dairy ice-cream for desert. Do NOT eat anything unless offered by hand. It will blow your cover. After movies, Phineas and Ferb get ready for bed. You follow them through the proceedure. Let them brush your teeth and snuggle up to Phineas when they lay down for bed. Until Phineas is asleep, you stay perfectly still. Fall asleep yourself if you want, but since platypuses are most active at night, you'd probably wanna roam about the house a bit. KEEP QUIET and LISTEN CAREFULLY. If ANYONE catches you doing anything human-like, your cover's blown and we'll NEVER be able to switch back."

"'Right. Okay.'", Heinz nodded. "'And we'll catch back up tomorrow when I sneak into your hideout and find a way back to you.'"

"Actually Heinz. Tomorrow's my check-up day. You're booked with Phineas and Ferb. So we'll have to wait till the day after.", Perry explained with a shrug.

"'Oh. Okay. Day after.'", Heinz shrugged.

The two shook hands on it and so it was settled. The day after tomorrow, they'll meet back up to create a machine that will put everything back in order.

"Oh, and Heinz...", Perry said, before her body began to climb into the car. She came down very close, the scowl that was normally upon the man's face, was now even worse and showing true aggression as the voice matched. "TOUCH them. HARM them. I find the TINIEST of a FRACTION that you have messed with my family... I will kill you. I will swap back and I will DESTROY you physically AND mentally. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Heinz, surprised at how menacing his voice suddenly sounded gave a shaky nod in agreement. Finally Perry backed up and Heinz went on his way to live out the platypus' life. Perry, though, had to help him start a bit by pressing the "autopilot" button to ensure he doesn't accidentally crash through a window at Owca's base.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Heinz had things started and gave the situation some thought, he smiled to himself a bit. It seemed pretty easy so far. So he had to pretend to be mindless. He's been called an idiot already, how hard could that be? So he doesn't blow his secret agent cover. It's not like he could really blow anything since no human could understand him! And the funniest part is that PERRY has to put up with HIS troubles! HA!

'Yeah, let's see how Perry the Platypus handles being in MY shoes for a while.', Heinz snickered to himself.

On the whole, things didn't seem to be going too bad for Perry. Things were getting cleaned, she had her tea, and was just on her way to dump what felt like the 50th trash bag, the phone began to ring. Perry walked over, picked up the phone and soon heard Roger's voice.

"Heinz! Good to see you're in. I'm not interrupting something am I?", he asked, the cheesy grin heard in his tone.

"Umm...", Perry cleared her throat a bit and tried to sound like Heinz. "Hello ROGER. No. You weren't exactly interrupting me."

"Good good! I'm glad to hear it. Well I just wanted to call and ask for a favor."

A favor? For the brother that's been told was always annoying, this sounded a bit nicer than what Perry had in mind.

"What?", she said, trying to keep her annoyed attitude going.

"Well as you know the family reunion's next week.", Roger continued on. "And we were hoping Grandpa Jose would stay with you. I would offer but he seemed to like your place so much more last time."

Grandpa Jose... Perry searched her memory and remembered being told that he and Doof shared physical traits and he had the meatloaf recipe. Unknowing any more than that she agreed with half a shrug of unconcern.

"Good! Good! He'll be over in a few days. Hopefully he won't break the couch this time, eh?", Roger joked, suddenly slapping it onto Perry's attention of what it was that made Heinz despise him.

Roger sat her up to have someone overweight break furniture she was already trying to clean. Perfect. The plus side was that "few" normally meant three or four. Three or four days from now, she'll be back in her own body with her own family and their own furniture. The only reason she was bothering to clean anything up now was because if she WAS going to be staying at the DEI, it certainly wasn't going to be smelling and looking like the city's landfill. But after she hung up the phone and glanced about the room to find where she left off, she suddenly held her head for a moment as the room spun about her. It was an odd thing. Not like when you spun around so much the ceiling still turned. It was more like she could feel it turning with the earth and she wasn't catching up. Moving in her line of vision only slightly. This must've been the allergies Heinz was warning her about. But if she stopped now, work would be backed up. A pet-peeve she dreaded. If she continued working though... Well. How hard COULD a flight of stairs be? She was strong-willed. A little pollen was NOT about to get the better of this secret agent. As she started back up, trying to ignore the room around her, she paused to glance at a clock and sighed.

'Wish I was home...', she thought to herself. 'Right now Heinz should be coming into the backyard.'

Which was true. Heinz waddled back into the yard on all fours just as 5 kids and a teenager were laughing and talking happily.

"That was amazing, Phineas!", a young girl with long black hair wearing a pink bow said with a smile.

"Thanks, Isabella!", Phineas replied.

"I think I am going to need a shower when I get back home.", an Indian boy said, rubbing his arms much like Perry did when she was in Heinz's body.

"Oh, there you are, Perry.", a husky kid with buzz-cut brown hair said. It was one face Heinz could recognize with ease.

"Krrrrrr.", Heinz replied with a slight smile. "'Long time, no see, Buford!'"

The three left the yard and Phineas, a kid with green hair, and a familiar teenage girl with orange hair, were left to start heading inside for dinner.

'This is crazy and awesome!', Heinz thought slyly to himself. 'PERRY THE PLATYPUS' family and I get to live out his- er her easy life and find out any embarrassing secrets I can use to blackmail her later!'

"Come on, Perry.", Phineas smiled as he scooped up the platypus. "Dinner time!"

Heinz had to admit, it was weird being in Linda's house with her husband and her kids, but Heinz tried best to ignore this fact. It was slightly difficult though as Linda stopped on her way by to the stove to reach down and stroke the platypus lovingly.

"Nice to see you're not scratched up today, Perry.", Linda smiled.

Heinz shivered a bit, feeling her hand travel down his back and tried to keep his thoughts in line, though it was easier said than done.

'She's married... She hates you. You're just a platypus...', he reminded himself though his face was becoming more red than blue. '...OKAY! STOP PETTING ME!'

Not wanting to suffer more embarrassing pleasure, Heinz turned and walked off to the couch like he was supposed to be sitting at anyway. It was just all to weird to be nearby the woman he dated in high school.

"Hm... Guess it's a good thing we're taking him to get his check-up tomorrow.", Phineas said to Ferb. "Perry normally loves being petted."

'Yeah. Perry the Platypus. Not me. Not by Linda. That's just all kinds of awkward!', Heinz rolled his eyes while no one looked.

"Ugh, but Mom you have to believe me!", Candace continued as they ate. "Phineas and Ferb made me switch brains with Perry and then they made me switch brains with a squirrel!"

"Actually you just swapped minds with the squirrel.", Phineas corrected.

"Details! They don't matter!", Candace groaned. "Is it really that hard to believe?!"

"Yes. Yes it is.", Linda replied.

'No. No it's not.', Heinz thought to himself. 'So... Phineas and Ferb build things too. Wonder if I could invite them over and have them "help" me build a little something.'

Before he could think more on the subject, Phineas had been excused, went to the kitchen and soon came into the living room with a bowl full of what appeared to be mud but assumed to be pet food, sat down, and began to hand-feed the platypus. Heinz stretched out on the couch, retaining as much an animal-like posture as he'd been taught in his early childhood, and happily ate. Surprisingly, the food had tasted better than he would've thought.

'Platypus taste-buds.', he supposed.

The family had gathered around to watch a movie after the dishwasher was loaded up and Heinz settled down comfortably on the floor, watching the screen like a large movie theater. How Perry could act so stressful when the two met was beyond him. Here he was, relaxed, fed, not an ache or an ailment to complain about. No annoying phone calls he has to make. If Heinz wasn't so curious about the rest of the house, he could almost fall asleep right then and there on the floor. But he wanted to be sure to catch when the family was asleep before doing any snooping about.

As bed time rolled by however, Perry had collapsed onto the bed, skipping dinner entirely. Her head ached like a large black claw, reaching from her temple and scratching over her face to gouge out her right eye. Throbbing with intense pain. Since the first phone call from Roger, balance was impossible to find and had coupled nicely with an odd sense of feeling tired. Not that she was physically tired but she couldn't stop yawning and feeling drowsy. Heinz was right. Her thoughts muddled together, making something out that sounded like sense but when examined, didn't entirely make sense at all. She knew what she was thinking but it all seemed hard to fit together right. To find the right wording. And it was only worse as Roger continued to call to ask her annoying little questions that ultimately made no sense. To call and remind her of Heinz's embarrassing childhood only to make her feel worse for being in the body to start off with. But as Perry stretched out on the furniture, blinking lazily at the ceiling, what she saw was really worrying her. The world would flash back and forth between the normal colors of the DEI and a different variation of it. A variation where everything was colored in black, blue, and white. Like how the world appears to be at 5:20 am with half a moon to shine down. That sense of the world getting darker before dawn broke through but still lit by the sun's reflection. And in this way to see the world, as Perry clutched painfully to the side of her face, it didn't even look like the room she was in. It looked like an alley way in the heavy rain. It came in flashes and it scared her to think of seeing something that wasn't there. Perry pondered, for a moment, if this was even really her own fault or the body's or if this was a normal allergic reaction. It really had her worried. Was being in Heinz's body that bad? Was this a normal reaction to pollen? The only fact Perry could muster was that she had been in bed like this since Phineas and Ferb had sat down to their dinner. She turned out the light, hoping sleep would bring comfort. But toss and turn as she might, her head throbbed too hard for anything. She tried to pull up the covers but found they were blankets layered on as if for Winter and left them aside. But as another throb swept by, as if defying her decision, she grabbed the blankets, heaved them over her shoulder, rolled over onto her stomach, and buried half her face into the pillow before finally finding comfort. Comfort in the odd security the weight of the blankets gave, in the softness of the pillow that muffled the throbs in her head, and in the warmth of the bed against the cold air condition. Perry didn't mind air conditioners. Not at all. She assumed it was something of the body she was in that made her like this. But as her hazy thoughts become even thicker and eyes were willing to close, sleep had finally begun to come over the worn out human in this nice dark room.

_***RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG !***_

Perry suddenly jolted up from the doze and saw a phone nearby was ringing.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, picked up the phone, and asked, "WHAT?"

Her own tone surprised her for being so angry but the voice she soon heard made everything excuseable.

"Heinz! How's my older brother?", Roger's overly exuberant and obnoxiously loud voice said. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

For once, Perry would've loved nothing more than to crush the phone in her hand after telling Roger to kiss off and get to sleep but before she answered, a thought came to mind. A truly evil thought. A thought that not only surprised, but slightly pleased, the monotreme.

"...No, actually. You aren't.", she said sweetly into the phone, having to hold back a laugh of her plan.

"Wh-?! R-r-really?", Roger stammered, now feeling completely thrown off.

"Yeah. No, I'm- Actually it's perfect you're calling right now at...", Perry glanced at the clock. "...midnight.", Perry shook her head, wondering how long did she doze off? "Cause, actually, there was a few things I was hoping to talk to you about."


	4. Chapter 4

_I LIIIIIIIIVVVE! ...Don't expect quick updates though. XP_

* * *

"'Geez, what is with this family?'", Heinz grumbled to himself as he looked about the living room.

Awaiting for the kids to fall asleep was easy enough but to wait for the parents? Heinz was glad he did not have to put up with Linda and her mad obsession of washing her face and prepping her skin to get to sleep. How her husband managed to do so with a roll and a snore is beyond the platypus but now he here he was. In the living room with the family asleep, and left to his own devices to find out where Perry or the parents would stash anything that was more mature than Disney's PG-rated, if not incredibly old classics, movies, Pixar, and the occasional Paramount films. Not that he didn't enjoy watching them from time to time when Vanessa was like, 6, but Heinz was in this to give himself a break from his usual life. The least they could have was a chick flick. Candace was 15 years old for Pete's sake.

'Or maybe... If the boys could manage to modify their room so their clothes are changed automatically... It WOULDN'T be such a good idea for them to watch anything like.. Irobot or Mask. After all, they are only ten. Maybe Linda's more aware than Candace realizes.'

Upon such ponderings, did the platypus move aside some movies, curious for anything behind it when he noticed a small green button in the corner of the DVD case. A curious glance around the room and Heinz was at it again. Fighting that same old desire to push a button that he didn't know what it did. The same reason he would install a self-destruct button- a lot of buttons for that matter- on his inators. Or still hold the remote while the TV's playing the tape. He liked buttons. It was an odd obsession. But when the family's asleep and he's trying not to blow Perry's cover, exactly how much trouble could one little green button be? Possibilities were endless in these thoughts but whether it was an obsession or not, Heinz pressed it and stepped back to watch.

The DVD case that once stood, silently sank into the floor as a new DVD case rose up in its place. The only way Heinz could've guessed this was Perry's stash, was because of the "How to Speak English" DVDs and that while the previous case was black, this one was grey. The same shade as Perry's fur color, what since Heinz was now officially color-blind. But as Heinz climbed up to get a better look of the selection, he almost fell off onto his tail in surprise.

"'NO! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! He has FRIENDS?! ALL TEN SEASONS?!'", the platypus gaped, now absolutely forgetting about the sleeping family. "'JACKPOT!'"

He quickly took down the collection and gazed at the packages of each season on the end table. Which one to watch? Where should he start? It was midnight. Would he have enough time to watch ALL of them? No. Knowing how enthusiastic Phineas is, he'd probably wanna get up at the crack of dawn or something. Heinz made his selection and settled down happily on the couch, excited to see how it would turn out. It wasn't long until he was intimately wrapped up in the show. Sure it was muted, but he knew the actor's voices by heart. All he had to do was read the captions super quick and watch what they did.

Heinz leaned further out of the seat as he watched the character Ross come up to the hallway between two doors. After a moment of looking between them, he finally headed into one.

'"Hey."', Heinz heard in his mind as he watched in excitement.

"Good Morning Agent P.", Monogram's face suddenly said, making Heinz fall off the couch with a chatter of surprise.

"'NO! WHICH ONE?! WHICH ONE DID HE CHOSE?!'", Heinz was chattering as he stood up at the TV, trying to find a way to change back.

"Agent P, calm down. You know how it ends.", Monogram rolled his eyes. "I was just calling to tell you-"

Heinz finally managed to figure out that pressing "play" on the DVD player made it run again but before he could lift his eyes to see what had happened, Monogram took over once again.  
"'STOP DOING THAT! I'M NOT PERRY!'", Heinz shouted though it only came out as a soft growling noise.

"Agent P, knock it off!", Monogram hissed quietly. "As I was saying. If you have the time, we're going to need you to come into work tomorrow. It seems your old nemesis, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is behaving very oddly. He's been on the phone all night. We don't know who with, or why but it's clearly something diabolical. I'll brief you more on it, tomorrow. Monogram out."

Heinz was slightly perplexed at this. He was calling someone? At this time of night? Well not he, himself, but Perry? Why would she want to talk? And who with? But with Monogram off the screen, Heinz was finally allowed to press play and settled back down to watch some more. Simply allowing the incident of Perry doing anything, to escape his mind. Some while of watching his show, Heinz had finally found drowsiness. He put away the DVD. Turned it all off. And headed for bed, leaving the living room exactly the way he found it.

The next morning, as Heinz's memories of Vanessa reminded him, the kids were energetic for a new day while he, unfortunately, was not.

"Morning Perry!", Phineas greeted as he sat up in bed when the alarm went off.

Before Heinz could even open his eyes he was suddenly scooped up into a tight embrace before being sat down across the young boy's lap.

"So, Ferb! I've got a great idea for what we should do today!", Phineas began before Ferb reached under the bed and pulled out a calendar, pointing to the day. "Oh.. Right. It's Perry's check-up today! Never mind, we could play Ultimate Shadow Tag tomorrow."

The boy shrugged it off and the two got ready for the day. Again, Heinz was rather unused to having everything done for him and while things like brushing his teeth seemed a little weird, it was hard for him not to enjoy the attention. Whoever Perry lived with, these guys nearly worshiped their platypus from Heinz's perpesctive. But Heinz was quickly reminded of his REAL circumstances when he waddled off to the back yard as the boys ate their breakfast. Just then as the little girl with black hair from yesterday- Isabella wasn't it?- came by, so did another pet following after her. A chihuahua to be specific.

"'Hey me amigo!'", Pinky barked. "'So, Perry. Sorry about the vet. Hope you make it out good.'"

"'Oh um.. I'm sorry. I'm not Perry. I'm Heinz Doofenshmirtz.'", Heinz explained.

At this, the dog stopped. Pinky looked at him sternly for a moment. Was Perry serious? The platypus SOUNDED like Perry. She LOOKED like Perry. But it wasn't like her to make a joke like this.

"'...You kid...right?'", Pinky asked.

"'Um... No. I- AAAH!'", Heinz screamed as he began running.

Pinky charged full on with his teeth baring and chased the intruder all about the yard. When finally caught, Heinz was pinned soundly to the ground as Pinky leered down at him.

"'WHERE IS SHE?!'", the dog demanded.

"'She-! I-I-!'"

"'TELL ME!'"

"'SHE'S BACK AT THE DEI!'", Heinz finally managed to say, cowering underneath the gleaming white teeth. "'I-I don't know how this happened!'"

"'LIAR!'"

"'NO! REALLY! I-I SWEAR!'"

Suddenly loud exclamations came from the house and before either knew it, the two were pulled apart by Isabella and Phineas. Never before had Heinz been so happy to be held by someone else. The neglection of his childhood had always lead him to a want of this sort of comfort but at this particular moment he felt he needed it now more than ever.

"Oh my gosh! Pinky! What the heck is wrong with you?!", Isabella exclaimed as her dog tried to jump out of her arms and back at the platypus.

"Whoa, whoa! It's okay Perry! Geez, what do you think happened?", Phineas asked.

"I have no clue! Pinky was perfectly fine when I left him here!"

"...Hormones?", Ferb asked.

"I really dunno but if that's the case, I'm definitely going to schedule an appointment for Pinky too.", Isabella said. "I'm sorry Phineas."

"Hey it's okay. Perry's alright.", Phineas gave a reassuring smile.

"I should go now. I'm gonna tie Pinky up to his dog house till we figure out what's wrong. Later.", Isabella said.

"Bye!", the boys said, waving her off.

Phineas turned his attention back to the platypus who still clung for life against his shirt and gave a caring stroke.

"Shhh... It's okay...", he crooned. "Pinky's gone."

But to Heinz, it wasn't entirely okay. From what had just happened, he almost wondered if he ever wanted to leave Phineas' side. It was at this very moment that he understood exactly why, Perry was so protective of her family.

At the vet, things seemed to have calmed down a bit though Heinz still stayed close to Phineas. When he was taken away he was pampered for the while. Nothing out of a usual check up so far and was soon relaxing on a table as a young nurse continued to stroke his fur until the doctor came back with her pet guinea pig and sat him close by.

"Do you like it when I pet you?", she cooed lovingly.

"'Oh yeah, I like it alright.'", Heinz purred. "'And there's absolutely nothing wrong with this so far...'"

After a moment he looked over at the guinea pig who simply yawned and stretched out as the doctor petted him too. "'So uh, is she your owner?'"

"'Come now, Perry.'", the English-crested and accented guinea pig replied. "'Of all animals in the kingdom, you would know that.'"*

"'Actually, I'm not really Perry, I'm just in her body.'", the platypus corrected with a sheepish grin.

At this the guinea pig sat up and looked at Heinz straight in the eyes. What could he possibly mean by that? This made no sense to the cavy whatsoever. But as he saw Heinz look right back at him, he saw that it was true. Perry never kept her eyes so focused. Realizing this alarmed the guinea pig and as he sat there, he began to wheek loudly.

"Aw, what's the matter, Peter?", the vet said as she continued to pet him.

But by then, another doctor came in and the first was excused along with her pet.

"Alright, Perry. Now you'll be a good platypus as we give your shots, right?", the doctor asked as he pulled out a tray from one counter and sat it down near Heinz, showing clearly an assortment of needles.

"'Sh-shots?'", Heinz asked, suddenly very afraid.

"We want nice, clean, shiny coats, right?", the doctor went on, not realizing the building up fear in the platypus. "One for each layer on your body and tail."

"'Okay! I want my body back now! Tha-that's like-! SIX shots! Help!'", Heinz chattered, starting to back up on the table. But he was quickly stopped by the doctor's hand and scooted back into place. "'N-No! I-I don't take shots very well! P-PERRY!'"

Meanwhile, at the DEI, Perry was working about the apartment, set and determined to turn things around right for it to be comfortable for HER. She wasn't about to let the man's fault body stop her from gettings things done and she even did a few future favors for Heinz in case another incident like this happened. But as she bustled about, being a busy bee of keeping things neat and orderly, she stopped to notice the clock on the wall. Checking with her memory, she figured Heinz would be getting his shots right about now. Three on his stomach and three on his tail. She surprised herself as she chuckled darkly.

"..Alright, I have to admit. THAT kind of evil, is most certainly a pleasure..", she said to herself as she went on her business.

Now as Heinz was being carried back into the car by Phineas, still in shock of where all he was touched and what all was prodded into him, Perry had cleaned the house, destroyed and cleaned up after all the evil inators, organized the blueprints according to accomplished, unfinished, in alphabetical order each. She was now labeling the remotes when a door opened and closed.

"Hey Dad. I'm here for our weekend!", Vanessa called out.

'...Oh shoot..', Perry mentally cringed before getting up and coming to Vanessa to greet her. "Oh hi, Vanessa! How are you?"

She offered for a hug, but Vanessa simply walked past the man and dumped her backpack on the couch.

"I'm just stopping in here to change. I'm gonna meet up with my friends in five minutes.", she said.

Perry couldn't help herself. She was always in charge of everything that went on around her and her body's paternal instincts easily kicked in. The combination of her boldness and Heinz's fatherly care certainly caught Vanessa off guard.

"Hold it right there!", Heinz's body ordered, making the teenager look back in surprise. "Now why is it that when it's supposed to be OUR weekend, you just lock yourself into your room and either complain about what I do or run off with those freak-friends of yours?"

"W-well-"

"Cause if you wanna complain about how little of attention I actually give you, girl you gotta start opening your eyes cause I DO try to pay you your attention! I'm SO sorry my life is SO full of evil that I can only give you all my attention in just a manner of a few short days! I'm sorry I may not be 'INTO' your things or 'get it' or whatever, but I very well darn try! The least you could do is give me that much respect!"

"But Dad, you DON'T try to take an interest in my things! You've always been trying to get me to be a perfect little copy of yourself and I've already told you, I'm not evil!", she said, equally angry before huffing off to her room.

"Really?"

"Yeah. REALLY."

"So dating Monty Monogram behind my back all this time; that isn't evil, right?"

Vanessa stopped dead in her tracks as she heard Monty's name. Fear seized her and for once, her dad was right. But.. How did he know? She turned back around and the stern scowl on her father's face softened into concern.

"Don't worry about how I know. I'm just trying to look out for you.", Perry went on to say, making sure she kept in line that she was being Doofenshmirtz. "I do love you Vanessa. I'm sorry it doesn't always seem like that, but I do. Just... another way I fail at everything..."

Vanessa couldn't help but let a sigh escape her. This was definitely something...different. But it seemed genuine and even if it wasn't, Perry knew Heinz well enough to know what he really thought of his daughter and how much he loved her. She knew what he feels every time he gets shut down from another misfired, father-daughter bond but fortunately, Perry knew exactly what words to use and wasn't afraid of saying them.

"If you really want me to spend time with you, I'm free all day.", she offered.

"...What about Perry?", Vanessa asked.

" Ag- er.. Perry the Platypus has the day off.", Perry shrugged. "All I was planning on doing was just labeling the remotes like I've been meaning to. I'm free if you are."

"...Dad, what inators have you built recently?", Vanessa asked, taking a step back. "Or is this something you read online?"

"I uh...built a uh.. A try-to-understand-your-daughter...inator.", Perry lied. "And I got zapped right before Perry the Platypus hit me with it."

There was a moment of silence where Vanessa was trying to determine whether or not she actually believed this. Her dad having the upper hand? Actually saying something correctly instead of bumbling over his words and having it come out the wrong way? She felt she had to test to make sure he was really zapped with anything.

"...How did you find out I dated Monty?", she asked, making Perry silently curse herself.

"...How do you think I found out?", she asked in return.

"...The only people who know about it are Perry, Monty, and I.", she said. "So either you built something, or Monty gave it out. And I don't think it's the latter."

"Well what if he did?"

"Dad could you just answer my question!"

"Perry the Platypus told me!", she spat in frustration. "But the inator's already destroyed and thrown away so don't get any ideas about it."

"And the other one?"

"Destroyed and gone too.", Perry huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. "Look, I'm giving you a golden opportunity. All day long, I'm all yours so either we can still play 20 questions, you can just ignore me like you always do, or we can actually look for something FUN that we can enjoy. I'm open for any option!"

Well after Vanessa had gotten over the shock of her dad actually being mad at her, they agreed to spend the day together. Though doing what, neither were entirely sure at the moment until Perry offered they went for a walk through the city.

"Why?", Vanessa asked. "Something you wanna go see?"

"Just thought it'd be nice to get out and get some fresh air. We can talk. Do nothing. Window shopping?", Perry shrugged.

"...Sure..", Vanessa said, a small and curious smile creeping onto her face.

The two walked out of the DEI and down the street. At first quiet, but once they got started talking, it snowballed into a great conversation and both were laughing as they continued their way. Then lunch came to be in order and the two stopped into a diner. They grabbed a table, ordered their lunch, and continued in their conversation. While they waited for lunch though, Perry noticed a car stop outside of the diner, waiting for the green light and recognized it instantly. She could even see into the station wagon where Heinz in Perry's body was curled up against Phineas, still shivering and squirming uncomfortably.

Heinz saw Perry. Perry saw Heinz. And the platypus was instantly against he window of the car, whimpering, Perry would guess by the look on his face, almost begging to be swapped back right then and there. Thankfully Vanessa had her head to her lunch so she didn't see Perry give a wide, toothy, evil grin to the pitiful looking platypus in the window. It was too much fun as Perry waved at Heinz, almost teasing him with the circumstances.

Heinz was torn to shreds beyond Perry's understanding. Was that HIS daughter? Having FUN!? And he was missing out on it! Not only that but the excruciating pain that still resided in his tail. Doofenshmirtz was barely able to believe Perry was capable of being evil enough to TAUNT him the way she is now. But tried as much as he begged to be let out of the car, Phineas only wrapped an arm around Doof and sat the platypus back down on his lap.

"Aw. What's the matter, Perry?", Phineas asked, stroking the animal's fur, making Heinz cringe in awkwardness. "You haven't really been acting yourself lately."

Heinz was wailing as the car drove away, seeing his daughter continue to laugh and have fun with his nemesis. He had had some rough days, but this one just took the cake. His daughter. Actually having fun with him, without him. It was almost a screaming insult to the father that a platypus could do his job better than he can. And as they drove on back to the Flynn-Fletcher house, while these thoughts hung around Doof's head like a thick fog, tears stained the fur as he wished for nothing more than to have his own life back.

Very little did he know that Perry was equally pained in seeing her owners hug and love on the platypus she was supposed to be. And she quietly excused herself to the bathroom not long after they drove out of sight to hide her tears. She missed Phineas and Ferb and her family as badly as Heinz missed Vanessa. Every one of them. She sighed as she leaned back against the wall in the bathroom, pausing for a moment in her sobs to catch her breath and not alarm Vanessa. She stared up at the bright lights on the ceiling that glared down at her. There had to be something. Someway to make the trade-off faster. The first solution would be to build her own inator, but she didn't have the scientific understanding as Heinz did and she had Vanessa dragging around with her. But she had to risk it. Hopefully buttering Vanessa up with all the girly fun they've been having for the day she would be willing to let Perry at least ATTEMPT to find something about swapping back. She didn't want to have to wait till the end of TOMORROW to be back in her own body and back in her family's loving arms.

She wiped up the last of her tears, pressed her cold hands to her eyes to cool off the irritation a bit, and then headed back out, looking just as fine as ever.

"Hey, Dad.", Vanessa greeted. "Thanks again for the fun today. I'm sorry I always shut you down."

"It's perfectly fine, Vanessa.", Perry shrugged it off with a casual smile. "I know I'm not exactly... The best company at times."

"Well... Maybe if your inators weren't always so evil, I wouldn't mind helping you again.", Vanessa shrugged.

"...Again?", Perry asked curiously.

"Yeah. Remember? Don't tell me you've forgotten! Although, I guess, ten years is a while.", Vanessa thought for a moment before resuming topic. "Anyway. Don't you remember when I was little and I'd help you make little robots or whatevers to help out around the house?"

Perry was silent for a moment seeming to ponder though she was trying to calm her surprise. Vanessa was scientific like her father? The most Perry ever saw of Vanessa 'helping' Heinz was keeping him out of jail or handing over one of his inators. Maybe there was a chance. She smiled and gave a nod.

"Oh! Pfft! Yeah, I remember.", she said casually. "Sorry it.. It took me a moment."

"Yeah, well it has been a while.", Vanessa shrugged.

"Mm... Yeah.", Perry gave a nod. "...Though.. You know... I-I mean this as a pure suggestion, 100% guarantee of the privilege to say 'no', but there IS one inator I could use some help in making."

She was hesitant at first, but bit her lip in thought before replying, "What...inator? And what's it for?"

Perry tried to think of a plausible reason for there to be in building a mind-switching-inator, but there really was no other benefit other than to return to her own body. Defeated, she told Vanessa the truth. Who she really was and what happened. She cleared up Heinz's genuine feelings for his daughter and clarified that she hadn't said anything about Monty, and apologized for having tricked her in the first place.

Vanessa took the information calmly, nodding so often in time in understanding. She agreed to helping Perry, though she was pretty rusty as building machines, and the two sat off at once.

* * *

_*In memory of Peter. A beloved guinea pig to my sister Amber. The vet and the guinea pig mentioned in this fanfic is my sister and her expet in honor of Peter and Amber's hope to become a vet when she grows up. ^^_

_Amber: Thank you Laura._

_Laura: ...I miss him. TT_TT Bout as much as you do, sis..._


	5. Chapter 5

_FINALLY! DX_

* * *

Heinz had given up trying to speak. He silently hung around the boys, sighing every so often to himself. He chattered a simple response when the boys asked him a question, relieving their worry of anything being wrong with Perry's over abundant behavior, and restrained himself from making a long rambling speech of how much he longed to return home. It was useless. No one understood him, so he gave up speaking.

'Maybe that's how Perry the Platypus got so quiet.', he wondered to himself as he walked about the house for no real reason. 'No one ever understood her or took the time to learn how. So she stopped chattering with a few occasions. That's why she was so specific with what she was saying to me before I left. She was FINALLY given a chance to say what was on her mind, and for having things blocked up for over five years, probably no doubt she would want to make the most of what she said.'

He managed to stumble into the boy's room when he noticed the computer was left on. Namely, their email window. An idea struck the platypus. Being the time it was, or what it would be eventually, Heinz quickly scrambled on and got up on the desk. He clicked open a few places, typed in some words, and hit enter.

***Ba-ding!***

The window that popped up slightly startled Perry as she was looking through the internet for mind-swapping blueprints. But the message was even more alarming.

_"PnF007: Perry the Platypus, it's Heinz. If/when you read this, either let me know NOW or 10 tonight."_, the window said.

An IM chat? Perry quickly typed back, her heart pounding to see Heinz talking to her.

_"What are you doing, you idiot?! What if Phineas and Ferb see you?"_, she asked back.

_"Really?"_, Heinz replied. _"That's the first response? XD"_

_"Shut up. Answer the darn question. T_T"_, she huffed as she typed.

_"They're outside in the backyard. Chill out, Perry."_, Heinz sighed. _"I'm relieved to know you're on. Whatcha doing? I thought you were with Vanessa!"_

_"Yeah. But she told me how you two used to build inators and I am NOT waiting till tomorrow evening!"_

_"You REALLY convinced her to make an inator with you? O_O"_

_"I had to tell her what happened. -_-;;"_

_"Oh..."_

_"Yeah. So now we're trying to find blueprints. Sorry Heinz, neither one of us are capable of creating an idea on the spot."_

_"You should try ."_

_"Focus! Why'd you IM me? Or.. Yourself.. Whatever the heck this is! DX"_

_"Lol. I was messaging you to see if there was anyway we could make the trade-off sooner. You were right! You're life IS difficult! I had to duck away like, ten times in one hour to talk to Monobrow!"_

_"What?! D8 Did Phineas and Ferb catch you? What does he want?"_

_"He was rambling on about what was on the lunch menu. I was ALMOST caught. Emphasis on ALMOST."_, Perry sighed in relief to read this. _"I'm sorry that I didn't think you had just as much troubles as I do. I'm sorry I give you such a hard time and that I never try to take the time to understand EXACTLY what you think and not just skim by it like you're an idiot."_

_"...They couldn't understand you could they?"_

_"NO ONE can! It's horrible! TT_TT"_

_"Well... I should be fair. Your life is full of garbage too. =/ I can't even find the bathroom around here, let alone put up with Roger! I'm sorry that I gave you a lot of grief."_

_"I know why you're so protective of your family. Your owners are good kids."_

_"Your daughter's great when you break past the attitude."_

_"So.. Now what?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"We both want to switch back sooner. How are we going to do that if you don't have blueprints or me?"_

_"I'm thinking about that.."_

Perry sighed and leaned back in the chair. What to do? Night was closing in on them fast. If she didn't think of something soon, Phineas and Ferb will finish with their project and Linda will call them in for dinner and Heinz would be essentially trapped in the house for the rest of the night. Owca's doors to her hideout closed by supper time in her yard and don't open unless Monogram needs her.

_"Vanessa!"_, Heinz suddenly exclaimed in the chatroom.

_"What about her?"_, Perry asked.

_"I couldn't help but sneak around your owner's bedroom a bit while I was waiting, and I noticed that your owner...what-ever-his-name-is. You know, the green-haired kid, seems to have some sort of a crush on her, judging by what he wrote in his journal."_

_"Ferb. Yeah. Your point is?"_

_"Send Vanessa over to hang out a bit and butter them up and before she leaves, I'll tuck myself away in the car with her! =D It's foolproof!"_

_"Heinz Doofenshmirtz, that's about the most stupid and ridiculous plan I've ever heard! DX"_

_"What? I thought it was good!"_

_"Phineas and Fer- ...Phineas. Won't ever let you just wonder out of his sight like that!"_

_"'Hey, Ferb! It's kind of interesting to not have to say, 'where's Perry' today!' T_T Perry, you ALWAYS wander out of their sight!"_

_"...She can drive on her own right? I don't wanna risk them seeing me.."_

_"Yeah. She has her license."_

_"Alright. I'll send her over."_, Perry smiled as she typed. 'Maybe we have a chance after all.'

When Ferb and Phineas were done with their invention, Candace heard a car pulling in the driveway.

"MOM!", she screamed, running through the house to the front yard. "MOM MOM MOM! You've GOT to bust Phineas and...Vanessa?"

Vanessa climbed out of the car and looked over at Candace, slightly confused.

"Yeah?", she asked.

"Vanessa, what are you doing here?", Candace asked.

At the mention of Vanessa's name, Ferb poked his head over the fence in surprise.

"Actually I was wondering if-", Vanessa began before noticing Ferb and giving a smile. "Oh, hey Ferb. Whatcha doing?"

"That's MY line!", Isabella grumbled as she and Phineas looked over the fence with the Brit.

"We were just- ow!", Phineas cringed as he felt Ferb's sharp elbow in his side.

"Um.. Nothing much.", Ferb covered over. "Why?"

Vanessa shrugged innocently.

"Oh, no reason. I was wondering if you might have some time to...you now. Hang out and whatever.", she said.

Ferb gave a quick nod as he felt his heart beating faster and quickly got down with his brother and best friend.

"But, Ferb. We're cleaning up.", Phineas said as they got down. "Aren't you gonna help?"

Ferb simply shook his head and headed out the gate, soon followed by the one Vanessa really came to see, her dad. Ferb came over as Candace headed back in and Vanessa started the conversation, asking Ferb a few questions about this and that, while Heinz tried his best to sneak into the car undetected. During the conversation, Vanessa's cell phone began to ring.

"Oh, sorry Ferb.", she smiled apologetically before opening the phone. "Yeah? Oh hi, Dad. Oh.. I'm just in the suburbs. What? No I didn't check the time.", she glanced down at her wirst watch. "Oh... Sorry. I'll be home soon."

When she hung up, she noticed Ferb's slump shoulders and gave a modest shrug.

"Sorry, Ferb. I gotta get home for dinner.", she said. "But it was nice talking to you."

Ferb gave a nod and replied, "You too, Vanessa."

Vanessa felt a tad sorry about just suddenly leaving Ferb like this, especially after Perry explained Ferb's crush on her.

"...Maybe we can do it again, soon?", she asked, causing Ferb to look up in surprise. She smiled a bit and handed him a card. "Call me when you're free, kay?"

Ferb took the card and Vanessa left, leaving Ferb feeling better than he has, all Summer long.

When Vanessa and Heinz got back to the DEI, Perry was waiting int he lab, tapping her foot impatiently. Oh how she LONGED to be back home! They couldn't get here soon enough by the time that Perry finally saw her body walking in through the lab.

"There you are!", she breathed with relief, though it probably sounded more annoyed.

'Geez, not even a thank you.', Heinz grumbled as he took out the blueprints he snuck.

Suddenly he found two lab-coated arms covering him as the floor left his feet. Perry hugged him tightly as she exclaimed.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!", she was saying again and again. "Thank you SOO much for getting the prints!"

Heinz smiled a bit and she let him go. They worked hard on the invention, Vanessa providing coffee and dinner when they needed it. A couple of hours later, the machine stood proudly and Perry and Heinz sighed in relief, contentment, and pride of their fast work. They smiled at each other and sat everything up.

In the blink of an eye, they were back to their old selves much to their delight.

"'Hey by the way..'", Perry began to chatter, happy to know that Heinz now understands her. "'I'm sorry for always giving you a rough time. Roger is a real jerk! How do you put up with him!'"

Heinz rolled his eyes and shook his head with a small smile.

"Right now, I'll take Roger's annoyance over being constantly touched and rubbed and listening to Candace yelling and always seeing my high school girlfriend EVERYWHERE I LOOK.", he said.

Perry chuckled and shrugged, "'They're family.'"

"It's life.", Heinz shrugged as well. "I shouldn't have been so eager to give mine off onto you."

"'I'm sorry about thinking that your life was anything easier.'", Perry said with an embarrassed smile.

"I will say one thing...", Doof began before the phone began to ring.

He picked it up and found Roger's voice on the other side.

"Oh.. Hey Roger.", Heinz said with a slight roll of his eyes. "What is it this time? ...Wait..Seriously? You're...to ME? ...I did?", he looked over curiously at Perry who just smiled, already taking a guess at what the call was. "...Oh. Well...um...thanks? Sorry, this is kind of... Yeah, I know. It's a bit awkward. Well you know after.. Yeah.", he nodded and soon began to smile. "Wait wait wait, I'm sorry. Can you just say it one more time?", he smiled more as he listened. "...Thanks. You know.. I really needed to hear this. Thank you. ...Yeah, I don't think I'll be going anywhere tomorrow. Sure. Alright, bye."

He hung up and smiled over at Perry, slightly unbelieving.

"You told Roger what I felt about him?", he asked.

Perry gave a nod and chattered, "'Everything.'"

"Thank you Perry the Platypus.", Heinz said with a wide smile. "He just apologized for always being a jerk to me. I never had anyone tell me they were sorry! Well, I mean aside from right now with what we were saying."

Perry chuckled and gave another nod.

"Welp. I guess you need to be going.", Heinz shrugged. "I'm sure Phineas and Ferb are worried about you."

Perry gave a salute and started to head off to her car.

"Oh! And Perry the Platypus?", he called out, causing her to turn back. "Your owners... They're great kids. I don't think you have to worry about me kidnapping them or anything anytime soon."

Perry smiled happily.

"'Thanks.'", she chattered, before heading out.

**The End**


End file.
